After experiencing the excitement of Prince Ning being appointed as the crown prince, people's hearts, which had just subsided, became excited again.
This time, a large dose of poison was found on the furniture that the third wife, Mrs. Cai, brought as a dowry.
In other words, the Third Young Master and the Third Lady Cai were not sick. The reason they were weak and frail was because they had been exposed to poisons for a long time.
The couple did not have direct contact with the poison, but they slept on a bed surrounded by poison every day. They were not poisoned to death, which can only be said to be due to their good luck.
All the maids and servants who came with the dowry of the Third Madam Cai were arrested and interrogated one by one.
The third wife, Mrs. Cai, was kept in solitary confinement.
Pei has already sent people to the Cai family to ask for an explanation.
If the Cai family can't give an explanation, then report it to the authorities. Let the authorities investigate the Cai family. I don't believe they can't find the truth.
It’s scary to think that the furniture my daughter-in-law brought as a dowry contained poisonous substances.
How vicious a person must be to come up with such a way to harm others.
In the past, the imperial physician could not cure the illness of the Third Young Master and his wife because the medicine was not suitable and the cause of the disease could not be found.
Now that the cause of the disease has been found, the imperial physician can start treating it quickly.
Once the right medicine is used, we cannot say that the disease is cured, but at least the symptoms are alleviated.
Liu Zhao came back from the government office and heard about this.
He said, "There's no reason for the Cai family to harm a married girl. The most likely ones are the Third Madam's maids and servants who came with her as a dowry. Only those maids and servants would have the opportunity to place poison under the bed over the years.
However, those maids and servants who came with the dowry may not be willing to confess honestly. It would be better to borrow Chang En, who is by my father's side, for two days and let him investigate the case. I am sure he will gain something."
Pei listened to Liu Zhao's advice and sent someone to send a letter to Prince Ning, asking him to borrow Chang En.
Prince Ning was furious when he learned that the third son was poisoned rather than sick, and that the suspect was his third wife, Mrs. Cai.
He ordered Chang En, "Investigate this matter thoroughly. Even if we have to overthrow the Cai family, we must find out the truth. The poisoning has already been carried out in the palace. Will they poison the Bixi Pavilion next time? Damn it, there is always a loophole. Why didn't I think that the third brother might have been poisoned?"
Chang En received the order from Prince Ning and took his men back to the palace. That night, he began to interrogate the maids and old women.
Chang En came from the Ministry of Punishment and his methods were extraordinary.
It is said that when Chang En interrogates people, there is nothing he cannot find out.
Sure enough, early the next morning, after fighting all night, Chang En got the news.
The person who poisoned was none other than the third wife Cai's wet nurse, Xu.
Xu was the wet nurse of the third wife, Cai. Later, she stayed in the Cai family as a nanny and served the third wife, Cai.
When the third wife, Mrs. Cai, married into the palace, she also came along as a dowry.
After receiving the confession, no one could believe that the person who poisoned the child was actually the wet nurse of the Third Madam Cai.
This is a relationship that has existed since childhood, why would Xu poison someone?
That doesn't make sense!
"Eunuch Chang, please stop keeping us in suspense and tell us why this Aunt Xu poisoned people."
Chang En said, "Let's ask the Third Madam to confront Xu."
Princess Pei nodded, "It's time for a confrontation. Someone, call the Third Young Master and the Third Madam. Tell them the person who poisoned them has been found. Also, send someone to bring Nanny Xu here."
Chang En reminded the servant who went to fetch Nanny Xu, "Remember to pack up the person and bring him back here, so as not to scare the Third Young Master and the Third Madam."
The servant received the order, feeling uneasy.
After seeing the miserable look on Aunt Xu's face, I finally understood why Eunuch Chang En said he had to clean up first.
The third wife, Mrs. Cai, came to Chunhe Hall.
Now that everyone knew she was poisoned, not infected, they didn't despise her as much as they did in the past. They just still avoided her, thinking she was unlucky.
How much of a failure must she be as a person for the wet nurse who raised her to poison her.
Third Madam Cai read the confession and her body was shaky. "No, it's impossible. Madam Xu has no reason to harm me. There must be some misunderstanding."
"There is no misunderstanding."
Aunt Xu was placed on the door panel and carried in.
Third Madam Cai cried and asked, "Madam, what they said is false, right? You won't harm me, right?"
"Your Cai family has an irreconcilable feud with my Xu family. Why wouldn't I harm you?" Aunt Xu said sternly.
The Third Madam, Mrs. Cai, was bewildered. "How is that possible? If you had a grudge, how could you possibly work for the Cai family? Besides, we Cai family don't have any enemies with the surname Xu."
"That's because your Cai family doesn't take common people like us seriously. I'm not from the capital, I'm from Wuzhou. Twenty years ago, there was a civil unrest in Wuzhou, and the imperial court sent troops to suppress it. The commander of the army was a member of the Cai family, your father, General Cai."
As Aunt Xu told the story, everyone learned a secret that had been buried for twenty years.
The people of Wuzhou were in turmoil, and General Cai led his troops to quell the rebellion.
After the chaos subsided, the tragedy had just begun.
After winning a battle, the soldiers began to commit murder, robbery, rape, and other atrocities. The worst case scenario was that they massacred half a village in one night.
If this evil act were to be known, countless heads would be lost in the entire army.
In order to cover up the truth, General Cai decided to go all out and ordered the massacre of several surrounding villages, creating the illusion that bandits were slaughtering the villages and deceiving his superiors.
Xu was still a young wife at that time. She was visiting relatives on the day of the accident and escaped the disaster.
When she returned home, more than ten people in her husband's family had died, and more than ten people in her parents' family had died.
Overnight, the entire family was slaughtered.
Xu originally wanted to die, but she didn't expect that she was pregnant.
She traveled to many places and finally came to the capital, where she gave birth to a child.
By chance, she became the Cai family's wet nurse.
Later, she learned that it was the Cai brothers who led the troops to quell the rebellion in Wuzhou, and she began to think of revenge.
It was not until the third wife, Cai, married into the palace that she started to take action.
She had made up her mind that when the third young master died of poisoning, she would step forward to uncover the truth and accuse the Cai family of poisoning the emperor's grandson.
She was the dowry of the third wife, Mrs. Cai, and her testimony is highly credible.
As long as she testifies, the Cai family will not be able to escape the charge of murdering the emperor's grandson.
By then, the Cai family would be sued, and whether they were dismissed from office or had their property confiscated and exiled, they would be finished.
She will also avenge her great hatred.
Xu glared angrily, "I just want revenge. You, the Cai family, killed more than thirty people from my husband's family and my own family. It's too easy for me to kill you alone."
I want your entire Cai family to pay for the lives of my deceased family members and the hundreds of villagers who were killed for no reason.
You are the daughter of the traitor Cai. Everything you enjoy was bought with the blood of innocent people. Don't you deserve to die?
I only regret that I didn't poison you enough to kill you sooner. I can't accept this! God is so unfair! "
"Since you hate me and everyone in our Cai family, why did you raise me and teach me patiently? You could have killed me when I was a child and no one would have found out." Third Madam Cai burst into tears and questioned Xu repeatedly.
Xu laughed heartily. "Even if I kill one of your daughters, the Cai family will still give birth to countless more. It's nothing compared to the satisfaction of killing your entire Cai family."
Do you really think your life is so precious? Pah! The thirty-odd lives of my husband's and my own family are not something that a little girl like you can ever compensate for.
I only hate the injustice of heaven, for letting me fail at the last moment. I will not rest in peace until the Cai family is dead."
Xu looked up to the sky and cried loudly.
Liu Zhao walked in from outside at this time. "Xu, you said that twenty years ago, General Cai massacred hundreds of innocent people in order to cover up the crimes of his soldiers. Is this true? Do you have any witnesses or physical evidence?"
Xu looked at Liu Zhao warily, "What do you want, young master? Are you going to accuse me of false accusations? Hahaha...hahaha...when I go to the underworld and see the King of Hell, I will also say that the Cai family will not die a good death."
Liu Zhao said expressionlessly, "If what you say is true and you can produce witnesses and physical evidence, revenge is not impossible. As long as you can prove your claims are true, I promise to reopen the case file and personally send people to Wuzhou to investigate the truth of this matter and bring justice to hundreds of innocent villagers."
"real?"
"What? Big Brother, do you really want to overturn the verdict on this thief who poisoned and murdered someone?"
"If the case is overturned, and if it's really as Xu said, the Cai family will be finished. What will the Third Madam do then?"
Everyone looked at the third wife, Mrs. Cai.
Third Madam Cai stumbled and held onto the table to steady herself, "I, I..."
Xu cried out, "If the eldest young master is willing to overturn my verdict and seek justice for the hundreds of innocent villagers who died in vain, I am willing to die."
Liu Zhao said with certainty: "You poisoned the emperor's grandson and will surely be put to death. If the verdict is overturned, you will be executed after the facts are fully investigated."
"As long as I can overturn the verdict, I would be willing to be cut into pieces, not to mention death." Xu looked crazy, with flames of hatred burning in his eyes.
Pei frowned, "Ridiculous! This happened twenty years ago, why are you trying to reopen the case? It's already so late, it's better to have less trouble than more. Boss, you are not allowed to interfere in this matter."
Liu Zhao's face was expressionless. "I disagree with what my mother said. My father was appointed crown prince, and the victim of an unjust case is in the palace.
If I didn’t know, it would be fine. But now that I know, how can I turn a blind eye to it? Wouldn’t that damage my father’s reputation?
My father is the crown prince, and all the people in the world are his subjects. When his people are innocently slaughtered, how can my father not investigate this matter?
As for the relationship between our palace and the Cai family, it is not worth mentioning in the face of national law."
"You, you, you, are you deliberately trying to piss me off to death?" Pei was furious.
"If this matter gets out, the palace will lose all its face."
Pei was worried.
Liu Zhao ignored him and looked towards the Third Young Master Liu Yan. "Third brother, what do you think? Just tell me."
The third young master frowned and was reluctant to speak.
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